Hobby Lobby Files Suit Against Abortion Mandate

Hobby Lobby Files Suit Against Abortion Mandate

Evangelical-owned Hobby Lobby has filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration's contraceptive/abortion mandate, becoming the largest business yet to take action against the rule, Baptist Press reports. The mandate, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, requires businesses to purchase insurance plans that cover contraceptives, including "emergency" contraceptives that can cause chemical abortions. The mandate went into effect Aug. 1, but Hobby Lobby won't be impacted until Jan. 1, when the new insurance year for its employees begins. Although Hobby Lobby's insurance plans cover contraceptives that are preventative in nature, the chain's founder and CEO, David Green, says the company won't cover anything that causes a chemical abortion. "These abortion-causing drugs go against our faith, and our family is now being forced to choose between following the laws of the land that we love or maintaining the religious beliefs that have made our business successful," Green said. "... We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate."